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HTC Not Packaging Beats Headphones With Phones Any Longer, Buy Directly If You Want Them

Talk about a short movement that was. HTC, who made an interesting move last August when they acquired a 51% share of Beats Audio, has decided that the audio itself is more important to couple with their smartphones than their actual headphones. Going forward, you probably won’t see even a high end device release with Beats headphones inside the package, something that hasn’t been done since the HTC Rezound on Verizon at the end of last year. In fact, the HTC One X (our unboxing and first impressions) comes with a pair of HTC-branded earbuds, but still has the Beats logo on the back of the device.

So why the move away? HTC claims that consumers aren’t interested in buying a phone because it includes better headphones and that if they want them, they will go out and buy them directly. The focus now will be on continuing to improve the backend audio experience, again, like they are trying to do with the One X.

I’m just wondering if this purchase is now regrettable by HTC? A 51% share in a company whose product you can’t even sell with your own. You can’t tell me that the goal from the beginning was simply to pay $300 million for some bass boosting backend audio tech. No way. HTC thought that Beats headphones were going to move products like Beats headphones themselves, only that didn’t happen.

Thoughts? We know how passionately you feel about Beats in general as a product, so here is your chance to sound off.

They missed the mark by forgetting that people who buy beats but iPhones not Android

Kerrythebeast

There so over priced for there quality and I hate earplugs reminds me of all the ear infections I used to have, if they where different headphones I would be more excited; but the sound coming from the rezound is amazing.

if people cared that much for quality audio, they wouldn’t have downloaded mp3 quality music by the 1000’s. This was a terrible business move from the start

Jay

Damn shame, but with monster and beats parting ways what else could they do. I almost bought a rezound instead of my bionic but figured I still had a decent enough pair of headphones. Then of course the day after my phone arrived my headphones decided to just stop working on me…stupid straight pin connectors.

That’s a bummer. Not because I wanted Beats headphones, but because they helped subsidize the cost of the phone, and offset Commiefornia’s full retail price sales tax. I sold my Rezound’s headphones on fleaBay for $90, and got the phone for $99.

FortitudineVincimus

I didnt want them then, dont want them now, wont want them in the future.

I was debating between the Rezound and Nexus when I was getting a new phone. Each had things I liked but it was pretty much a tie in my mind. The Beats headphones were the tie breaker pushing me to the Rezound. So it did get them one purchase at least, but I’m really unimpressed overall. Had the Beats software worked on anything but on device files played with the built in player I think it would have gotten more love. I think it was a bad move by HTC.

Butters619

I don’t see this as an issue. Focus on the phone, that is fine. Also, I have a pair of Klipsch S4 earbuds that I wouldn’t stop using ever and I’m sure most people out there already have a favorite pair of earbuds anyway.

kixofmyg0t

I have the S4i’s and I LOVE THEM. The only ones better IMO are the Super.Fi 5 EB by Ultimate Ears. Sadly they are no longer made.

Butters619

Yeah I have never tried those (now I am intrigued though), but I have tried a lot of earbuds (pretty much everything Best Buy carries and some) and I have not found anything that comes close to matching the sound quality/noise isolation/comfort of the S4.

kixofmyg0t

The S4i sound like the Super.Fi 5 just with less bass. I listen to rock but I need bass. The Super.Fi 5 EB bordered on excessive lol. It was like having a subwoofer shoved in your ears sometimes. I personally loved them though.

Id say my S4i’s have about 3/5ths the total amount of bass as my Super.Fi 5 EB’s.

Butters619

All I listen to anymore is House & Trance and now I really want a pair of those headphones. New mission.

Kerrythebeast

You should do your self a favor and get the v-moda LP over the ear. They are far better products and ate priced well, EDM is better on them

Butters619

My brother owns those and swears by them

zUFC

they have some on Amazon. Which should i get? Should i go with the instore S4’s or get the Super.Fi5 from amazon? what would you do?

kixofmyg0t

Id like to thank HTC for spending that $300 million. The “Beats” software installed on Bionic with my Klipsch S4i’s does sound better than stock.

Btw “Beats” headphones themselves are complete garbage. They’re OK for rap but if you actually listen to MUSIC and not just a drum machine and a guy talking they get overwhelmed. I really miss my Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 EB’s.

If leaving these out brings the price down, then I’m all for it. The people who are hardcore Beats Audio fans will already have a pair of Beats headphones, and for those who don’t particularly care for it, its just one less thing we don’t want coupled with a cheaper price on a phone we do want.

Usmitcboy

Serious question: do you REALLY believe they’ll lower the price of ANY phone b/c they aren’t giving $500-$100 earbuds away with them. That $250-$300 phone will STILL be $250-$300 now without the special earbuds. Audiophiles will say that Beats headphones/earbuds suck compared to “Brand whatever” but they beat (no pun intended) the snot out of everything that’s included with phones now so where’s the deal coming in???

Azn_Android

The lack of capitalization in this title bothers me immensely ;P

jeesung

ear buds != headphones.

maybe Beats is a superior DAC, but ear buds won’t take full advantage of that.

Oh Dewd

Had a razr, didn’t like it. Exchanged it for a rezound. Not because of the headphones but it was a great perk! It’s too bad people missed out on this phone

CharlesHussell

People missed out on it because the blogs ignored it for being too thick. They were too busy posting nexus rumors and side by side shots of how thin the Razr is.

I can’t see how anyone would choose the Razr over the Rezound. Now that I have ICS I prefer it to even the Nexus.

Obviously the company is just trying to compete in a game that is over saturated with motorola products and better quality (my opinion only) products made by samsung. Honestly they shouldn’t worry too much since they’re still in the top 3 IMO and motorola is seeing a swift decline in this community.

majormudafuckinhun

Big whoop! They suck anyway. The Rezound however does not!

BroRob

My question is Why invest in Beats, integrate it in to the
phones and leave it up to the consumer to buy crappy ear buds that ruin the
product? It’s like buying a high end AV receiver and hooking up Dynex speakers. I think most consumers will just use the stock or cheap ear buds and
then word of mouth will be that Beats isn’t very impressive. I don’t think it
was a smart move at all.

I’m sure they did this because from now on you can use the Beats software with any headphones you want instead of Beats branded headphones only. It’s a smart move, IMO, because the Beats brand is much like the Bose of speakers; all name and no quality (for the price premium anyways, they’re good headphones, but you can get the same or better for the price pretty easily). I couldn’t tell $80+ difference between the iBeats headphones that came with my Wife’s Rezound over the Samsung ones that came with my G-Nex.

kixofmyg0t

I totally agree with your opinion of Bose. Ive tried many of their products and they may be ok for classical music at low volume, they sound like complete garbage when you listen to something made in the last 100 years.

Smart Business Man

It’s a very smart business move. Why include premium ear buds for free (with the purchase of the phone), if people are willing to go out and shell out some bones for them individually?

I don’t think this is that great of a move. We on droid life may not let the beats ear buds sway our decision to buy a phone but the same time I got my galaxy Nexus my sister and a few of her friends went with the Rezound because it came down to the ear buds. I think having included the ear buds would help lean people to HTC if they were on the fence.

r0lct

Yea, it can only help add sales, no one is not going to buy it because it has them. However maybe the middle ground is to offer a discount of the headphones with phone purchase.

Butters619

Yeah I (and every person on this forum) need to stop forgetting that the tech/phone nerd crowd is such a ridiculously small part of the general market.

Lfrem202

I mean, 51% of $300+ headphones could still be lucrative (even if you can’t package the smaller ones with your phones). HTC is a smart company, I’m sure they will make that money back in no time, plus profit.

turdbogls

I would NEVER buy a phone based on the included earbuds, so i can see where HTC is coming from. However if there were 2 equally niced/spec’ed phones at the same price that i liked both of them, a pair of nice bundled headphones would sway my vote to that device.

but “Beats” would never sway my vote. give me Klipsch or Sennheiser and i would move “bundled earbuds” into the top 5 things i look for in a phone.

Usmitcboy

Or they’d rather make you pay extra for the head phones versus just giving you better quality headphones for free. All companies are starting to give you less for more lately. Seems to be a hot trend these days… SMH

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Wadeivy

Its true…. rezound is getting its ass kicked by the razr

KOBALT

Moto dropped the ball with the Bionic and has yet to pick it back up

Thanassi

Quietly Absent

Lmao

I’m glad HTC is moving away from this gimmicky crap. Frankly, it was beneath them and showed that last year they had no vision for what they wanted their Android phones to be. Hopefully this, and the One X are the beginning of HTC’s turn-around to try and recapture the greatest Android OEM crown.

moozicmon

Amen.

Butters619

Yeah it was like an infomercial: “Buy the phone, and we’ll throw in free Beats! They are Beats so you know there good! Beats I tell you! Free Beats! Beats!” (extra beats added for exaggeration).

Now it’s “Buy our phone, cause it is one bad ass sexy phone. That is all.”

I agree. After owning the Rezound for a few months, HTC has won my loyalty and Motorola has lost it forever. So has Samsung, after trying out the Nexus for a few weeks. I think every phone I buy from this point on will be made by HTC.

dezignstuff

The actual phones were the one thing that weren’t a gimmick, they were the only part of the deal that had any value. The eq settings were the gimmick. And they are the part that is staying.

Ron

OEMs give out free headphones all the time, and these were possibly the best headphones ever to be given away with a phone. And if you’re going to sit there and act like you don’t like free stuff I think you’re a liar.

Noyfb

My nexus ear buds are awesome to listen to music with, unfortunately the speaker on the phone sucks terribly to listen to music with. I like the idea of beats, but people were complaining about it because they could not use it with pandora or tun-in radio or any music/ radio apps, it seemed beats only worked with its own native music app, so what’s the point of having it then?

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